#blinkthink

The cool thing about Janka is that there is an overwhelming amount of potential for them to crash and burn, to maul each other and leave no bones. But! There is also a lot of room for them to clutch right at each other's hearts and allow the other to keep his hand right where it is.

Canonwise, I think Zanka is actually pretty accepting of Jabber as a person - which is a big part of why they click so well.

Everyone else sort of just deals with Jabber - the Raiders brush him off or ignore his antics, whereas the Cleaners are horrified/disgusted by him, and certainly not for no reason. But Zanka, even if reluctantly, accepts him. It's not that he's blind to what kind of person Jabber is - he knows full well that he's not a good person. Like, at all. But the real honesty that Jabber radiates - he can't help but admire and hate it in equal measure.

We see even from their first fight that Zanka's focus is not on any of the weird, off-beat, or even at times disturbing things Jabber says, but purely on defeating him. Immediately, he is unphased by Jabber's antics. And you can take this a symptom of Zanka's one track mind - when he's fixated on something he really wants, it's all he can think about - but I think this also displays how they instantly understand get each other. Zanka's lack of concern for Jabber's comments and Jabber clocking that Zanka is "just like" him.

When Jabber and Zanka finally come to a place of mutual understanding after days/months/years of putting each other through mental (and physical) torture that not even Jigsaw himself could think of, it allows them to really flourish as a couple. Not necessarily in a conventional manner, but that's their whole schtick - existing outside of the conventional.

In an established relationship, Zanka does not discourage Jabber from experimenting with deadly substances or really any of the crazy shit he does. He understands beyond the surface appearance what it means to Jabber - freedom, and all that. As long as he ONLY allows Zanka to hurt him and comes home to him, they're cool. He'll even let him test out some of his work on him - sometimes willingly, other times unwillingly by virtue of losing their latest fight. But hey, a good time (for Jabber) is bad regardless!

BUT! In turn, Jabber accepts Zanka. When others see that Zanka is upset about feeling inferior, they try to comfort him by telling him that he's enough or that he's much stronger than he thinks. All of it falls on deaf ears. But when Zanka laments that he's just not good enough, Jabber challenges him to be better. He makes Zanka work for it - the right to be his, to hurt him, to indulge in him - which is, in a sick sort of way, what he really wants. Jabber gives Zanka goals to reach (beating TF out of him, for example). A reward when he reaches them (beating TF out of Jabber). A reason to keep trying if he doesn't (one day he WILL beat TF out of Jabber). And the motivation to use that reason (Jabber wholeheartedly believing that Zanka can beat TF out of him and the subsequent refusal to stop pushing until he does).

They encourage each other to better and worse. They encompass each other in a way that is mutual but, with time, doesn't have to be fully restrictive. Just a little bit - enough to keep them so they can let each other's true selves out.

This is partially due to the ugly lovechild that being employed and my procrastination have welcomed into the world. However, equally responsible is my hesitation to post anything short.

I want to write! And I certainly do, but I feel like unless it's a fully fleshed out idea that's at least 5k, then it's not worth pursuing?

Like, I have ideas for drabbles, but then I get cold feet about writing them because if it's a short work, I feel like every word needs to hit the mark or it's a flop. I don't know if I should give it a try or not. I'm half convinced no one's even interested in my work anymore anyway 💀